Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Stars in a Time Warp 17: Conversation Prints

Cynthia used a conversation print with her chrome orange

reproduction in February.

Vintage quilt about 1870-1890

The blue shirting pictures a small jingle bell.

We always enjoy coming upon a conversation print while examining an antique quilt. The subject matter and detail give us something to talk about, which must be where these prints get their name. "Conversation prints" or "conversationals" feature figures of recognizable objects other than florals or abstract geometrics. Today manufacturers call them "novelties."

A vintage dog print.

From a French swatchbook by Persoz.

He is showing a roller print for shirts printed in 1846

by the Koechlin Brothers mill of Alsace.

The finely drawn,
light-weight cottons shown here were a subcategory of shirting prints.

A terrific small quilt with fussy-cut conversationals, about 1900.

Sporting print, a subcategory of conversationals.

Horseshoes, jockeys and racing images were a common theme.

The printers often referred to the detailed prints as mill-engravings, a reference to the printing technique. In this case, the word "mill" does not mean the textile factory, but rather the old die and mill technology introduced in the early nineteenth century. A mill made of hard metal like steel impressed pattern into a cylinder or roller made of copper.

The mill is harder metal impressing a pattern into the roller, which is softer metal, sort of like this diagram. When the softer metal roller began to wear out the mill could re-impress the pattern on to the copper.

A woman working on a cylinder or roller about 1870.

After 1870, that technology became inexpensive enough that textile factories could print quirky designs like bees or flies, patterns which did not promise to be big sellers.

Horses, however, must have been popular prints.

Vintage top with horse, anchor and horse shoes, about 1880-1900.

Vintage indigo blue anchor print, about 1900.

During the latter part of the nineteenth century, at the
same time that the mill-engraved conversational shirtings were popular for
clothing and quilts, factories also produced conversational prints featuring
white figures on Turkey red or indigo blue grounds.

The dark prints, which were
quite popular for children’s clothing, appear in quilts from about 1880 through
1920. They rarely show the detail of the mill engravings, and are primarily
sporting prints, another subcategory of conversationals. Anchors and sailing
images, horse shoes and racing equipment are common in these red and blue
shirtings.

Oh boy, my favorite (wait, I've said that before). I once bought an entire quilt top (from Julie Silber) because of one little tiny piece of a conversational with a horse on it. Sheesh! Thanks for sharing my "Happy Hexagons" quilt. I had a lot of fun with that one.

Okay, I am so happy to now see the conversationals included. I had more then I thought so I have seperated them into their own bundles..time to get busy making my stars again...I just took a little break because my stack was growing a bit too fast.